The E-Myth Contractor: Why Most Contractors' Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Despite the single letter at the heart of its hyphenated title, The E-Myth Contractor isn't another book about e-commerce. Instead, like previous entries in Michael E. Gerber's popular series, it focuses on a different e-word--entrepreneur--and the fact that most of us who go into business for ourselves are doomed to fail because we really don't understand business. This time, Gerber lays out the basics for starry-eyed newly self-employed contractors who know everything about their trade but precious little about being a boss. "I don't try to tell you how to do the work you do," he writes at the outset. "Rather, I share with you some profound insights into how great businesspeople think." In his easy-to-understand manner, Gerber explains the concept of Strategic Thinking and how it "will enable you to create a business that works apart from you instead of because of you." He addresses key topics like money, people, management and growth with an eye toward making related functions run seamlessly and effectively as we build our independent enterprises into true companies that have inherent value whether we stay involved or ultimately hand them off to eager buyers. Taken to heart, it could save more than a few worthy ventures as well as the people behind them. --Howard Rothman

• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
• Profit First for Contractors: Transform Your Construction Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
• E-Myth Mastery
• E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World-Class Company
• The E-Myth Real Estate Investor
• Markup & Profit: A Contractor's Guide, Revisited
• Home Service Millionaire: How I Went from $50,000 in Debt to a $30 Million+ Business in Seven Years
• The E-Myth Manager: Why Management Doesn't Work--And What to Do About It
• The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field
• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine